Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt3 out of 5 stars

Recommended: Yes

Nicole’s story piqued my interest before I knew there was a book about it. I had heard about the adopted, identical twin boys and how one of them had known very early on that they were born into a body that didn’t match who they felt they were inside. To me it sounded like the perfect example of how a person’s identity is formed by nature more than nurture. So I was very intrigued to learn that in fact our identity is engrained in our DNA and in our brains long before we are born and that it is not connected to the genitalia we are born with. That fact got me thinking a lot about gender and our society.

Reading about how Nicole, her twin brother, and their parents handled the situation in their own family and how they navigated through society and the bogus rules that it sets forth was inspiring. Unfortunately the research-oriented writing style wasn’t my favorite and I found myself absentmindedly reading through some parts without absorbing it. All in all the story taught me a lot and helped me form some new opinions on gender and our society. I would recommend it to everyone.